Killucan and Rathwire
Encyclopedia
County Westmeath
-Economy:Westmeath has a strong agricultural economy. Initially, development occurred around the major market centres of Mullingar, Moate, and Kinnegad. Athlone developed due to its military significance, and its strategic location on the main Dublin–Galway route across the River Shannon. Mullingar...
. They have a combined population of 1,248 according to the 2006 census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
. Killucan is on the R156 road
R156 road
The R156 road is a regional road in Ireland, linking the N3 national primary road near Clonee in County Meath to the N4 in County Westmeath. The road is single carriageway throughout. Many parts of the route have dangerous bends.-Route:...
about 15 km (9.3 mi) from Mullingar
Mullingar
Mullingar is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. The Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act of 1542, proclaimed Westmeath a county, separating it from Meath. Mullingar became the administrative centre for County Westmeath...
and 60 km (37.3 mi) from Dublin.
Local economy
The villages have prospered throughout their history due to their excellent land and transport links to Dublin. The Royal Canal and the Sligo-Dublin railway line pass through the area although neither is used as a mode of transport any more. The canalCanal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
is impractical while the railway station (called Killucan Station and located nearby at Riverstown) closed many years ago (although the line remains in use). Killucan and its neighbouring village of Rathwire have recently prospered due to their proximity to the M4 motorway to Dublin which means it is less than an hour's drive away, well within Dublin's ever expanding commuter belt. This has led to the construction of many new housing estates in recent years as the Celtic Tiger
Celtic Tiger
Celtic Tiger is a term used to describe the economy of Ireland during a period of rapid economic growth between 1995 and 2007. The expansion underwent a dramatic reversal from 2008, with GDP contracting by 14% and unemployment levels rising to 14% by 2010...
has led to many new houses being needed within reach of Dublin. Killucan/Rathwire was well suited to this rapid expansion as it had many of the facilities needed for an increased population, unlike many other of the small towns in Ireland which have rapidly grown recently. There are three primary schools and one secondary school in the area as well as ample sport facilities (such as a free golf course and fishing lake), a library and many other amenities. The majority of its inhabitants work in Dublin or nearby Mullingar. The only large employer in the area is Shay Murtagh's Quarry and concrete production.
History of Rathwire
Both Killucan and Rathwire have ancient origins, as indicated by the ancient "Fairy Fort" in Rathwire. According to legend this was built by the Chieftain Guaire who gave Rathwire its name. The ruins of the hillfort remain on the western end of the village. Legend has it that Guaire is buried in the ruins and is guarded by a savage dog who does not want the remains disturbed. Subsequently the NormanNormans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
Lord Hugh de Lacy built his Motte
Motte-and-bailey
A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...
alongside the remains of Guaire's Fort. In 1210 the notorious King John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
came to Rathwire to subdue the De Lacys when he fought and won the Battle of Killucan. While here he also received the Gaelic
Gaelic Ireland
Gaelic Ireland is the name given to the period when a Gaelic political order existed in Ireland. The order continued to exist after the arrival of the Anglo-Normans until about 1607 AD...
King of Connacht
Connacht
Connacht , formerly anglicised as Connaught, is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the west of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for...
, Cathal Crobderg O'Connor, who travelled to make his submission.
History of Killucan
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
Cill Lucaine (Church of Lucan). Lucan was a 6th century
6th century
The 6th century is the period from 501 to 600 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian/Common Era. In the West this century marks the end of Classical Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages.- Overview :...
abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
who is believed to have founded a monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
in the area. The monastery however did not survive to the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
and no trace of it remains today. Some believe that Lucaine is in fact a corruption of Etchén, who was bishop of the nearby Clonfad monastery. Whichever version is correct, the present day church in Killucan is St. Etchén's. There has been a church on this site since the time of the Normans (the De Lacys). The present church on the site dates from 1802. Inside this church is a 13th century font. On the east end of the site are the remains of an 15th century medieval church. Although the site was initially used as a Catholic church, it was changed to a Protestant (Anglican) one during the Cromwellian Plantation
Plantations of Ireland
Plantations in 16th and 17th century Ireland were the confiscation of land by the English crown and the colonisation of this land with settlers from England and the Scottish Lowlands....
.
After the Penal Laws
Penal Laws (Ireland)
The term Penal Laws in Ireland were a series of laws imposed under English and later British rule that sought to discriminate against Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters in favour of members of the established Church of Ireland....
persecuting Catholics were reformed in the 19th century, a new Catholic church, St Joseph's, was built in Rathwire. St. Joseph's Church was built in the neo-Gothic style at the end of the 1830s, being completed around 1840. It was constructed under the orders of The Rev.
The Reverend
The Reverend is a style most often used as a prefix to the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. The Reverend is correctly called a style but is often and in some dictionaries called a...
Fr. Eugene O'Rourke, the Parish Priest of the area at that time. Fr. O'Rourke also had the rather incongruous Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
belfry added almost thirty years later, in the late 1860s.
Killucan Parish
The parishParish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of Killucan is one of the largest in Westmeath (by area). It includes both Killucan and Rathwire as well as the countryside around them. The village of Raharney
Raharney
Raharney or Raharny is a village in east County Westmeath, Ireland. It has a population of 231 .Raharney is on the R156 road about from Mullingar and 60 from Dublin...
about 4 km (2.5 mi) to the east of Killucan is also part of Killucan parish. St. Joseph's Church is in Rathwire while St. Mary's is in Raharney. The parish priest's house (parochial house) is in Rathwire.
Schools
There are 3 primary schools in the parish and a secondary school located in Killucan.St.Patrick's NS, Edmonton, Killucan [www.edmontonns.scoilnet.ie]
St.Joseph's NS Rathwire
St.Mary's NS, Raharney
Columba College, Killucan
The Royal Canal
The twin villages reached the height of their prosperity during the 18th and 19th centuries due to the arrival of first the Royal Canal in 1805 and later the Midland Great Western RailwayMidland Great Western Railway
The Midland Great Western Railway was the third largest Irish gauge railway company in Ireland. It was incorporated in 1845 and absorbed into the Great Southern Railway in 1924. It served part of Leinster, County Cavan in Ulster and much of Connaught...
. The canal was built between 1790 and 1817, reaching Killucan from Dublin in 1805. It grew in importance transporting people and goods until the mid-19th century. After this the advent of rail and road travel in Ireland led to its slow decline and it formally closed in 1961. It was abandoned and became unusable for many years. Nowadays thanks to the Royal Canal Amenity Group it has been restored for leisure boats from Dublin to Abbeyshrule
Abbeyshrule
Abbeyshrule is located in south-east County Longford, Ireland, on the Royal Canal. There is an airfield near the village, is also located beside the Royal Canal.The Abbeyshrule Aerodrome is located just outside the village alongside the Royal Canal....
in Co. Longford. The remaining section from Abbeyshrule to Cloondara was due to open in 2006. It is to walk the entire length using the Royal Canal Way. The Canal is a particularly important amenity in Killucan, being used for fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
, walks, boating and even canoeing. The Harbour at Thomastown (1 kilometer South of Killucan) was recently expanded to cater for the growing number of tourists who rent barges from there. The canal through Killucan passes through the Killucan Flight, a stretch of eight locks over 2 km (1.2 mi). East of the flight there are no further locks for 27 km (16.8 mi) while there are no further locks to the east until past Mullingar, the highest point on the Canal.
Railway
The Midland Great Western RailwayMidland Great Western Railway
The Midland Great Western Railway was the third largest Irish gauge railway company in Ireland. It was incorporated in 1845 and absorbed into the Great Southern Railway in 1924. It served part of Leinster, County Cavan in Ulster and much of Connaught...
reached the town in 1848, when their railway line was extended from Hill of Down
Hill of Down
Hill of Down is a townland in County Meath located on the Royal Canal. There was also a railway station on the line between Dublin and Galway/Sligo. There is a shop and post office at Hill of Down.The shop also has a pub and all of these are located next to the bridge over the canal . St. Columba,...
to Mullingar
Mullingar
Mullingar is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. The Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act of 1542, proclaimed Westmeath a county, separating it from Meath. Mullingar became the administrative centre for County Westmeath...
. The station, officially called Killucan Station and located at Riverstown, closed in 1963. The signal cabin remained open until 2005 when automated signaling was introduced. Recently there has been talk of the train station being reopened, although Iarnród Éireann
Iarnród Éireann
Iarnród Éireann is the national railway system operator of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann . It operates all internal intercity, commuter and freight railway services in the Republic of Ireland, and, jointly with Northern Ireland Railways, the...
, the state-owned railway company, have rejected the suggestion.
Sport
Killucan have a Gaelic footballGaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...
team at senior club level. They recently (2005) won the intermediate championship and have remained at senior level since, reaching the county semi-final in 2006 (losing to eventual champions Tyrellspass) & 2010.
See also
- List of towns and villages in the Republic of Ireland
- Market Houses in the Republic of IrelandMarket Houses in the Republic of IrelandMarket houses are a notable feature of many Irish towns with varying styles of architecture, size and ornamentation making for a most interesting feature of the streetscape. Originally there were three, four or even five bays on the ground floor which were an open arcade. An upper floor was...